All My Fault
by Zack Hiwatari-Chan
Summary: Jaime is late, Bart goes looking, and doesn't find what he expected. Spoilers for 'The Runaway's'. Feedback would be appreciated. Since it's my first YJ fic and all.
1. Chapter 1

**Figures, the first thing I post in months is Bluepulse. This pairing is pretty much taking over my mind. XD**

**Spoilers for the episode 'The Runaway's'.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned this show. It would never ever end.**

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Bart sped around the town searching for Jaime in confusion. They were supposed to have met at the movie theater almost half an hour ago. He had stopped by Jaime's house to see if something had come up, but his mom said he had left several hours ago. That worried him. Ever since Green Beetle had 'fixed' Jaime's scarab, he had been acting really weird. Bart had been suspicious of Green Beetle from the start, and hadn't left Jaime alone if he could help it. But maybe that wasn't enough. He bit his bottom lip nervously. He had a really bad feeling about this.

There was a flash of blue up ahead, he skid to a stop, sliding along the ground and kicking up dust. Bart grinned as he got a better look. "Blue! Man I'm glad I found you, been looking everywhere!" He laughed, walking the rest of the distance between them. "You're late, thought you might be in trouble or something!" He grinned lopsidedly.

The smile melted off his face when Blue Beetle turned around and their eyes met. Bart was suddenly overcome with a horrible sense of déjà vu. "Hey, _hermano_, there's no trouble; I just got a little side tracked." It was Jaime; it was most definitely Jaime, but at the same time it wasn't. He sounded the same, and reacted just like Jaime would. But, there was something in his eyes that gave everything away. Blue Beetle took a step forward, he subconsciously took one back. Blue Beetle frowned. "What's wrong, you okay?"

No, no he wasn't okay. This was wrong, this was all wrong. Even though the concern sounded genuine, it wasn't, it couldn't be; because that wasn't Jaime under the armor. He didn't break eye contact, he didn't think he could. Blue Beetle stepped forward again, he stepped back two. Bart swallowed nervously and offered a shaky grin. "Nothing's wrong, what makes you say that?" He asked, knowing that he was lying; Blue Beetle knew he was lying too. If his eyes didn't give everything away, his body language would. His molecules were vibrating like crazy. He wanted to run, he wanted so badly to run and hide. But he couldn't, there was nowhere to go that he hadn't told Jaime, and by extension the Blue Beetle about. "Hey look, the movie's already started, we should just skip it." He suggested, hoping he didn't sound as nervous as he thought he did. "I mean you probably have school work or something to do . . . . "

"Sure." Blue Beetle nodded, armoring down. Even without the armor he could still tell that it wasn't Jaime, or Kaji Da. He didn't know who it was. But for some reason, being without the armor made this person wearing Jaime's body even more terrifying. "We can go see it tomorrow, if you want? I mean its goanna be playing all month." Bart almost broke down right there. Everything was the same, yet nothing was. He couldn't explain it, he just knew. Jaime was either gone, or somewhere trapped inside while this person took over his life.

He nodded, "Alright, sounds crash. Seeya tomorrow, _hermano_." Bart forced himself to grin, before turning and running as fast as his powers would allow him too. The Scarab was on mode, Green Beetle had betrayed them. He was miles away before Blue Beetle could even blink. As he skids to a stop in front of the Garrick's home, a horrible thought occurred to him. Jaime had only asked Green Beetle to reprogram the Scarab because Bart had told him of his role in the Reach Apocalypse. His blood ran cold.

'_This, this is all my fault. . .' _


	2. Chapter 2

**Bluepulse is a horrible disease.  
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**I love it.  
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**But then again, who doesn't? Review if ya can! I'd love to hear what you guys are thinking.  
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**Disclaimer: If I owned this show. It would never ever end.**

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Bart doesn't show up for training the next day, he didn't think he could handle it. He was currently pacing his room near hysterically; things were flying around in his wake. He'd have to clean everything up when he stopped freaking out at super speed. This was his fault!

"My fault, all of it, I should never have told Jaime about the apocalypse!" Bart berated himself in frustration.

Maybe if he hadn't, this wouldn't have happened. Maybe he shouldn't have ever gone back in time either. Maybe, maybe going back in time was what caused it in the first place.

"I caused a time paradox!" He face palmed, in retrospect, he should have seen that coming. When building the time machine, they had never even considered that him going back into the past might not make a difference, or might have been what caused it in the first place.

He hissed angrily, feeling like a cat that had just been kicked. "This, all of this, is my fault! I'm such an idiot! I should have taken him out when I had the chance!" He spat, kicking the wall. Pain shot up his foot, but he ignored it.

But he knew in his heart of hearts that he could never have done it. He could never have killed Jaime. He probably couldn't even do it now, even if Jaime was probably long gone. He wasn't sure when his mission had gone from 'Stop the Blue Beetle', to 'Save the Jaime Reyes'. Somewhere between the Chicken Whizzes, hours spent playing video games, and late night movies, everything had changed. It only took him until now to notice.

Suddenly all of his anger seemed to evaporate. Bart turned and flopped onto his bed. Lying on his back he stared at the ceiling and groaned. He ran a hand through his hair. "I have to do something about this." There had to be some way to get the Scarab off mode. If there was a way to get it on mode without killing Jaime, then there had to be a way to do the opposite.

"There's no way I can just let this happen." But he already had. No matter which was he spun it. This was undoubtedly his fault, and he was going to make it right; even if it killed him. The small, cynical part of him that only seemed to surface when he was thinking about, or talking to, Jaime decided to cut into his thoughts. _'It probably will. But, you came back knowing full well the risks.'_

He couldn't help but laugh, albeit, rather bitterly. "I'm taking to myself now, great. I've finally gone overboard. Guess it was inevitable." He sighed. "Never mind that, got to focus."

Bart knew that the Scarab's had two main weaknesses, New God technology, and Magic. He didn't have access to either of those things. And for some reason, telling Nightwing what had happened didn't seem like a good idea. It was likely because to get anywhere near the imposter, he'd need the element of surprise. He didn't want to set off any Reach alarm bells and accidentally speed up the apocalypse. If this was going to work, he'd have to play it cool. Except, if the Scarab knew him half as well as Jaime did, it would know that something was up.

He felt like such an idiot, he should never ever have left Jaime alone with the Green Beetle. Or have told him about the Reach apocalypse. But he had just been so relieved that he was okay, that the Reach hadn't gotten him. That he inadvertently allowed them to do the very thing he had been trying to prevent. Bart scoffed. "Some savior I turned out to be. I'm just a stupid kid who wanted an escape."

Looking back, it was painfully obvious how completely unprepared he really was. He had fooled himself into thinking he could save the future. And as a result, he had gotten so caught up in the past that his mission was on the verge of failure.

"There's absolutely no way I'm going to give up now though." Now, now he had a reason not to. Failure was staring him right in the face, and he was going to fight it with all of his might. He couldn't, for Jaime's sake, for his own, for everyone's. He wouldn't stand by and watch as he lost everything again. He had to save Jaime Reyes, or die trying.

"I'll get you back_ hermano_, I promise." Bart vowed, glaring at the ceiling of his room, as if challenging it to contradict him.


	3. Chapter 3

**A trend I notice with recent 'On mode' Bluepulse fiction, is they tend to portray Impulse as someone who would break down at being called something like 'Meat Bag' I don't really think that's the case. Bart is slavery hardened, jaded, and in my opinion, a bit cynical.  
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**Methinks that some times people forget that all his hyperactivity and cheerfulness, is actually an act.  
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**Disclaimer: If I owned this show. It would never ever end.**

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He spent the rest of the day alternating between freaking out, and trying to come up with something even remotely resembling a plan. By the time he was supposed to meet 'Jaime' for the movie, he had nothing. It seemed that whatever plan he came up with, fell apart at some crucial stage, or due to logic; one or the other.

He sighed. "Maybe I'll just improvise. . ." Of course that was what got him in this mess in the first place. But he was willing to try anything at this point. He had to. He glanced at the clock. "Better get moving. Don't want to be late." He rolled his eyes, speeding out of his room and down the stairs.

He paused, and ran back to grab something off his desk. "Almost forgot my keys." He shook his head in disbelief. His best friend had been taken over by an alien that had been fused to his spine. He felt like an idiot for worrying about something as trivial as taking his keys. Of course he was an idiot.

What else could he be? He was best friends with the guy who was going to enslave humanity. There was definitely something wrong going on in his head. He stuffed the keys into his jeans pocket and sped out of the house.

Bart wondered if it was really a good idea to be going at all. He didn't go to training; he could have just made up an excuse as to why he had to stay home. Unfortunately it was too late to turn back now. He was almost there.

He shrugged; coming to a halt in front of the theater several minutes later. The only reason he had agreed to go to the movie in the first place was because Jaime had been so excited about it. Apparently it was one of the 'classic' horror movies; Dracula or something. Jaime's dad was a huge horror movie buff, and apparently that trait had been passed on to Jaime. No one on the street had noticed his entrance. He must be getting better at stopping, crash.

Bart looked down either end of the street, but didn't see 'Jaime'. Probably late again, maybe he was meeting with the other traitor Green Beetle. He'd have to find out. Maybe follow 'Jaime' after the movie or something. It shouldn't be too hard, not even the Blue Beetle could spot something moving at the speed of light, right?

He paused, it was best not to find out, actually. He wasn't sure how fast he would have to be moving when landing a punch to do more than break his own hand against the Blue Beetle's armor. Come to think of it, he'd have to figure out some way to test that.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder, breaking him from his thoughts. For a moment, just a moment and not a millisecond longer, he panicked. He spun around in surprise, practically jumping out of his skin. 'Jaime' was standing right behind him. _'How did he sneak up on me?'_ He thought, forcing back his panic. Blue Beetle, or no Blue Beetle, he had to get his act together or everyone would be feeling the mode.

'Jaime' blinked at him in surprise, throwing his arms up in surrender. "Calm down _Hermano_, it's just me." He chuckled, as if finding something in the situation funny. Bart relaxed, but internally he was seething. Was the Blue Beetle really that confident in his acting skills that he thought he could hide that he was on mode from him? Him of all people! It was insulting. Sure he was an idiot, and a stupid kid who probably doomed the future. But still, his observation skills should be given more credit.

He faked a smile, praying that it didn't look as forced as it felt. "Course it is." Bart lied easily. It so obviously wasn't. Even his laugh sounded wrong. Not that anyone other than him had really heard Jaime laugh. "Now C'mon, let's get some popcorn! Don't have that in the future ya know. It'll be totally crash to try it." He laughed, making sure not to hesitate, or show any more or less excitement than usual.

'Jaime' didn't protest as Bart ushered him towards the theater doors.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: If I owned this show. It would never ever end.**

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The evening passed surprisingly quickly, a blur of popcorn, jokes, and old movies. He hated it. There had even been several times throughout that he had almost forgotten it wasn't even Jaime he was enjoying the evening with. It made him sick. Despite his internal conflict, and at times borderline hysteric thoughts; he managed to be fairly convincing. At the very least, Blue Beetle would have little evidence that he had figured out his little ruse.

Bart rolled his eyes at himself as he stopped in front of the Garrick's house, just as he had the previous night. _'I'm way too good at that. If this whole thing works out, I should receive an Oscar; or whatever the league equivalent to that is.'_ He thought sardonically. _'Heck maybe if I actually succeed I can take up acting in the afterlife!' _He added bitterly.

He had always known that there was a good chance that if he succeeded, he would no longer exist. There being no need for anyone to go back into the past. If he failed, he would no doubt be killed. It was a, lose-lose situation if he ever heard one.

He felt like even more of an idiot for forgetting that fact for even a second. Like a fool he'd allowed himself to become a member of the team, to relax, to have fun. He was on a mission, and shouldn't have acted otherwise for even a second. If he had been smart, he would have run far away after saving the Flash, and killed Jaime.

But he hadn't thought of that. Instead he had ended up meeting him, and getting to know the person under the armor. Now it was near impossible to connect Jaime Reyes with the creature of his nightmares.

Bart wasn't sure when he had gotten inside the house, but he deiced not to question it either way. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. He really had to get it together. As true as it was, berating himself for being an idiot wasn't going to change anything. He headed towards the kitchen, at a nice, human speed.

He loved using his super speed, but frankly, it was easier to sort things out if he was moving more slowly. Besides, what would be the point of using super speed to get a glass of water?

He got a glass from the cupboard and forced himself to concentrate. There was a serious matter at hand, and he was being way, way too relaxed about it! He needed to get a hold of New God technology, or maybe he could secretly arrange for Zatanna to provide some help.

Although she would probably go directly to Nightwing with the information, so asking one of the people with actual magical abilities was out of the question. As was vibrating right through the armor; Kaji Da and Jaime were still in there somewhere.

If he wanted to save them, he would have to find a way to crash the mode. Unfortunately, it was looking more and more like he would have to simply destroy all three of them. Blue Beetle, Jaime, Kaji Da, if saving the future meant killing them. He'd do it. Bart had to stop putting himself before the mission.

It was his fault this had happened, because he hadn't wanted to have to kill his first and only friend. He leaned against the counter and scowled at his own reflection in his glass of water. That was definitely a train of thought he didn't want to board.

At least not without a lead pipe handy, so that he could beat himself senseless for it, or at least until he had amnesia, or was at the very least unconscious. He took a drink of water, wondering if he could ask Connor to get him some New God tech. He had friends on the planet, didn't he?

"So how'd the date go?"

Bart choked and it was all he could do not to perform a spit take right there. As it was he dropped his glass, he caught it before it hit the ground, but water spilled everywhere. He spun around, pounding his fist on his chest. "What date!?" He demanded though his frantic coughing. When had Barry even gotten there anyway? Had his guard really been down enough for someone to sneak up on him?


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: If I owned this show. It would never ever end.**

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It didn't take long for what the older speedster had said to catch up with him. He paled. Was that what he thought that was? WAS that was that was!? Oh god, he had been on a date with the enslaver of humanity!

Bart tried not to panic, but it was probably obvious that he was. Why did Barry look so damn amused by that anyway? "That was not a date, so not a date!" He yelped, more trying to convince himself then Barry. "We just went the movie, that's all." He added, this time much more calmly.

_'Stay calm, it's all crash. He was just teasing. Just teasing, totally not a date.'_ Although he was well aware that he was lying to himself; he really needed to believe that lie, for the sake of his sanity. It wasn't as though he had spent hours at a time wondering about his relationship with Jaime. He had simply written off those feelings as something best friends did. Having never had a friend, much less a_ best_ friend before, he had no reason to think otherwise.

He had once asked Tim about it while on a surveillance mission, the youngest bat had been quick to assure him that yes best friends always hung out, oftentimes alone, wrapped arms around each other's shoulders, and even cuddled on the couch while watching late night TV.

Tim had said he had seen Nightwing and Wally do all of those things when they were younger, even though they had both had girlfriends at the time. So he hadn't been very worried.

But maybe he should have asked someone other than a bat. You never knew if what they thought was different from what everyone else thought. And on a matter like this, he might have needed a second opinion. But second opinion or not, he was not going to have this conversation with his grandfather of all people!

Bart forced himself to calm down; thinking at speedster levels was throwing him off. Barry was giving him this all knowing incredibly amused smirk that grated on his nerves a bit. "You know, I could have sworn that when two teenagers went to the movies alone and shared popcorn, and one walked the other home, that it was a date." Barry said smugly, leaning against the wall of the kitchen.

He felt his face heat up and he wasn't quite sure why. "I didn't walk him home! We were having a conversation and I was trying to score some Chicken Whizzes'. . ." At least that was what he had thought he was doing. "And we only shared popcorn because I didn't have any money to pay for my own!" He added quickly. Bart paused.

_'Wait a minute. . . . How did he know all that anyway?_' His mysterious embarrassment vanished, replaced by indignation. "You were spying on us!" He cried in mortification. He didn't have to worry about keeping his voice down; the Garrick's were out on a date or something. It was probably because they wanted some time to themselves. It couldn't be easy having a teenager living in your house. But his main focus right now was the snooping intrusive older speedster.

Barry was grinning at him in this satisfied, almost troll-like kind of way. "Course I did. See, Robin told Nightwing, who told Wally, who told me, that you guys were going out on a date. And since I need the practice for when the twins get to this age, I figured I'd check in on my time traveling grandson." Bart stared at him blankly for a full _minute_ before he could come up with a response.

"You were spying on us!?" Was the stunned teens oh, so eloquent response. "What, why, seriously Robin is dead, deader than dead!" Oh, he was so going to get that little bat-brat back. He didn't know what he'd do yet, he'd ask Beast Boy for advice or something.

"You followed us, for the entire night? That's not 'checking in', that's stalking! You stalked us!" He wasn't entirely sure what the full mix of emotions he was feeling was. But among them be could pick out, shock, embarrassment, indignation, and anger.

Bart glared at the blond speedster. "Not crash, not crash at all _amigo_!" He didn't even notice the Spanish word slip into his speech. He had been spending so much time with Jaime lately, that he was picking up on a lot of it. Incorporating Spanish into his daily speech had become second nature. "I dun know about this time period, but that's definitely not okay where I come from!" He lied, there wasn't much do say about his time. Not a whole lot of laws, other than the Reach that is.

Barry just continued to smirk at him. He raised an eyebrow. "Awfully defensive there kiddo, something you're not telling me?"

The red head knew he was blushing again. And was quick to stutter out a denial, but why he was getting so defensive was a mystery to even him. It wasn't as though he was in love with Jaime or anything. Nope, not at all, right? He paused, a hundred and one thoughts crashing into him.

Bart went pale. "I just remembered something that I have to do, right now, so, later gramps!" He was gone before he even realized that he had started running.

He cursed himself inwardly. He needed a place to think, to sort this all out. There was a lot he wasn't so sure about anymore. But, he had a horrible suspicion that he had fallen in love with the Blue Beetle. His tormentor, the creature that haunted his nightmares . . . His best friend, the person who had recently comforted him after several of said nightmares.

He growled. This wasn't how it was supposed to be! Why was it that no matter what time period he was in, his life always seemed to be a nightmare? He sighed, coming to a stop in the middle of a large, empty area, far away from a city. The stars were out tonight. He always loved the stars; you couldn't see them in the future.

_'This whole situation has turned into a nightmare . . . ..'_


End file.
